


enterprising young people

by Murf1307



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Fake Marriage, First Kiss, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:29:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ABC-1832 is a gorgeous ship, and still more gorgeous are the ideals her crew fights tirelessly after.  The worlds spin on as always, but maybe, just maybe, they can shake a few souls to spin faster in their way, and along the way, find themselves a little bit of love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	enterprising young people

Grantaire and Marius took to each other like birds of a feather, much to everyone else’s surprise.  Grantaire took the younger man under his metaphorical wing, welcoming him down in the deep belly of the _ABC_ and showing him how to make her purr.

“Abby’s tempermental,” he’d say, having nicknamed the ship long ago.  “But you’ve got some natural talent at this, so I think she’ll take to you.”

Courfeyrac tried not to be jealous of the easy way Grantaire and Marius interacted, when Marius — adorable, freckle-faced, blue-eyed Marius from that provincial backwater planet from three weeks ago — was so absolutely skittish when it came to almost everyone else.

Including Courfeyrac.

It was kind of Courfeyrac’s _fault,_ too — sometimes overbearing and always enthusiastic, he’d come on just a little too strong and sent Marius running in the other direction.

“It’s not your fault,” Cosette would say, when he laid his head in her lap and she stroked his hair.  “He’ll come around.  I think he likes you, but he’s just not sure how to approach you.  He’s lonely, I think.”

“Like you were lonely?” Courfeyrac asked.  

“Like I was lonely.”  Cosette smiled.  “But now I have all of you, so I’m not anymore.”

Courfeyrac smirked and climbed onto the couch next to her.  “Well, I’m glad of that.”

——

“Where’s Grantaire?” Enjolras snapped, storming into the lounge one evening (by ship’s reckoning).  

Marius, who was reading, looked up.  “I don’t think going looking for him is a good idea right now,” he said firmly — the most words in a row that he’d ever said to Enjolras.  “He’s not in the mood to fight with you.”

Courfeyrac turned his head away and hid his smile.  If Marius was willing to defend Grantaire like this, he was even more brilliant that Courfeyrac had first imagined he was.

Enjolras, for his part, tightened his jaw.  “Please?” he asked, his voice surprisingly small.

“You’re trying to apologize to him, aren’t you?” Courfeyrac asked, letting his smile linger and widen.  

Marius nodded.  “In that case…today’s password for engineering is _achilles._ No capital letters.  He thought this one was clever, considering the circumstances.”

Enjolras squawked indelicately.  Courfeyrac laughed.

When Enjolras left the lounge, Courfeyrac moved over to the couch Marius was sitting on.  Marius looked at him, his expression going a little bit wary.  “Do you need something?”

“No.  I, ah,” Courfeyrac paused, looking down at his lap bashfully.  “I wanted to apologize, myself.  I know I can be overbearing sometimes, and didn’t mean to scare you off when you first came on board with us.”

Marius blushed.  He had a very pretty blush.  “It’s forgiven.  Grantaire explained it to me.”

“Good.”  Courfeyrac smiled.

“The next time we land —“ Marius started.

He didn’t finish, because Bahorel came into the lounge, dragging Enjolras with him.  The latter is bright red and cursing about seven generations of Bahorel’s family.

Courfeyrac was pretty sure he’d never been more irritated.

——

‘The next time they land’ was a disaster, except for the end.

It started with the ridiculous regulation that the only people allowed on that particular planet were married couples, which meant forging marriage certificates.  Feuilly was an ordained minister, and Enjolras a captain, so the marriages themselves would be valid in most sectors, but only if you didn’t look too closely.

Cosette and Eponine posed for their ‘wedding photos,’ chuckling with their arms around each other, and they were only the first volunteers of quite a few.  By the time everyone else was married off, only Enjolras, Grantaire, Marius, and Courfeyrac hadn’t gotten a fake spouse.

“Just ask him,” Cosette insisted, thumping Courfeyrac’s shoulder.  “And then that just leaves Enjolras and Grantaire.”

“I do not live in a romantic comedy vid, Cosette, this is only going to end badly,” he whined.

Grantaire, to everyone’s surprise, made the whole question moot by dragging Marius to Feuilly, and they were married.

Courfeyrac tried not to be jealous, and failed.

And so the mission itself was tense from the beginning.  Enjolras, Courfeyrac noticed, spent more time than necessary staring after Grantaire and Marius, looking as though he’s trying not to.  

The tension snapped and the truth about the validity of the marriages came out.  They were quite literally run off planet, Enjolras cursing all the way back to the ship and Bahorel and Combeferre eerily precise in providing cover fire, which brought them enough time to escape properly, and the whole crew of the _ABC_ flops into the lounge a few minutes later, either laughing (Bahorel, Jehan, Joly, Bossuet, and Cosette and Eponine) or just trying to come down off the adrenaline.

Grantaire tried to skulk his way down to engineering again, but Courfeyrac watched as Enjolras grabbed at his hand, stopping him.  They moved to the side of the room, and Courfeyrac turned his attention away from what was obviously going to be a private moment.

He found Marius instead, perched on the arm of the couch he was sitting on, and looking a little spooked.  

Courfeyrac reached over and tugged on his sleeve.  “You okay?”

“Yeah, I mean — is it always like that?”

“Pretty much,” Courfeyrac said.  “You get used to it eventually.”

Marius laughed, a soft, tinkling sort of sound.  “You’re telling me that now, that I’m going to get used to fake marriages and getting chased off planet by angry locals.”

“Sounds about right,” Courfeyrac agreed, grinning.

“I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not, I mean, it’s not like I wanted to marry Grantaire,” Marius admitted, blushing.  “I mean, I thought Enjolras was going to kill me with his eyes alone.”  He paused.  “And there was someone else I was kind of hoping would ask.”

Courfeyrac blushed, gaped a little.  “Get down here, right now, and let me kiss you.”

Marius blushed even pinker, and obliged him.  It was a soft, careful kiss, until Marius’s hands found his waist and Courfeyrac made a soft noise.

Of course, no one was paying attention to them when Enjolras and Grantaire’s own private moment turned decidedly _too private for public_ , so it was all all right in the end, Courfeyrac though to himself, arms around Marius’s neck. 

Everything was all right in the end.


End file.
